Because They Could Not Stop for Death
by Rainy Meadows
Summary: The Axis and Allies share an encounter with Death, the Grim Reaper himself, who offers to extract them from their lives of hardship. Inspired by the poem by Emily Dickinson.


Because they could not stop for Death  
He kindly stopped for them  
He offered a chance to strip the trance  
And view oblivion

He came upon the coward first  
A redhead, dressed in blue  
The frightened man waved his white flag  
For what else could he do?

The Reaper showed him all there was  
All the coward's fears  
Earthquakes, plague, war and death  
The coward broke in tears

The next one was the soldier  
Of green and blue and blonde  
The Reaper asked if he would look  
Upon infinity and beyond

The soldier heard the coward's cries  
And ran straight to his side  
For he knew all there was to know  
Of war, of death, and genocide

A stoic came upon the scene  
His eyes and hair were black  
He saw the shinigami then  
And tried to fight it back

But the stoic was not perfect  
His past was filled with blood  
The Reaper tore down all his walls  
And left him in the mud

It was then a hero arrived  
He could not talk - just shout  
At his arrogance, the Reaper struck  
And began to call him out

The hero fell down to his knees  
His foundation was war  
He'd killed more innocents than he'd saved  
So many deaths - what for?

The Lord of Death could not believe  
What lay beneath his eyes  
He had expected so much more  
And now was sadly surprised

The gentleman was not amused  
He leapt upon his feet  
Their achievements, surely, he protested  
Would make this obsolete!

The Reaper sadly shook his head  
Who was this man to talk?  
For he had killed and bombed and enslaved  
Yet hid behind cliffs of chalk

Death now found the pervert  
Who offered him a rose  
The Reaper turned it down just for  
The safety of his clothes

Beauty was but just a mask  
The wine, the land, the love  
Hid darkness in the pervert's heart  
Which came from below and above

The Reaper now looked down in shame  
Six men lay on the ground  
He had expected so much more  
But nothing redeeming was found

An enraged wise man then arrived  
His bound hair billowing in tow  
He was the eldest, so everything  
He did already know

Death was not impressed by this  
The wise man bore no might  
His history had the most turmoil  
His bark no longer had bite

The others defeated so quickly,  
The mad one tried his hand  
The Reaper was not frightened for  
This was what he had planned

While physically the strongest one  
The mad one's mind was weak  
As Death burrowed into his mind  
Insanity reached its peak

The Reaper, now, was some how sad  
He had expected more  
His hand was offered once again  
To lead beyond the door

He said that he could bring them peace  
The sanctity of death  
With his assistance, they'd be safe  
No longer drawing breath

They had all been through too much  
No mortal's experience  
Could compare to their suffering combined  
So he offered deliverance

The immortals paused in their reply  
Uncertain what to say  
Were they finally going to die?  
Was this their Promised Day?

The coward and his soldier friend,  
The stoic and hero  
The gentleman, the pervert too,  
Wise man with madman in tow

The Reaper had exposed their minds  
With frightening precision  
Without a word, their minds were made  
A unanimous decision

Yes, they had all suffered much  
And yes, their lives were tough  
And it was true that some of them  
Had more than quite enough

But all of them had families  
And friends whom they would miss  
Their people and leaders needed them  
So they denied Death's bliss

Their hardships made them stronger  
So they were there to stay  
Their bonds were strong - nothing they knew  
Could tear these bonds away

It wasn't the life that they preferred  
And not one they'd chosen  
But if they were to leave now  
Their homes would then be frozen

Death was stunned by their reply  
Never turned down before  
But they could not last forever  
He would be back, he swore

Once he was gone, the men went home  
Returned to family and friends  
And none of them bore any fear  
For their eventual ends

Because they could not stop for Death  
He'd kindly stop for them  
And on that day, no more delay  
They'd reach oblivion.

* * *

**Hi, I'm Rainy Meadows! You may remember me from such works of fanfiction as _Hitting the Bar_, _The Hetalian Job_ and _Draw a Circle: That's Your Soul_. I hope you enjoyed this little bit of randomness and I welcome any thoughts that you may have about my first non-crossover Hetalia fic... sort of. Thank you for reading and have a pleasant day!**


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